1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to end effectors for robotic units and, more particularly, to a multi-spindle end effector for rotatably supporting multiple objects to be rotated.
2. Discussion
Many objects of manufacture require deburring, grinding, buffing and/or polishing prior to being deemed acceptable as a finished product. For example, many chrome parts, such as wheels for automotive vehicles, motorcycle parts, and plumbing and lock hardware, require such buffing and polishing. Manual performance of these tasks is difficult and labor intensive.
To expedite the processing of such articles of manufacture, automated polishing and buffing is sometimes employed. To date, the most successful technique for polishing and buffing through an automated mechanism involves the use of a six axis robot which positions the object of manufacture adjacent polishing and/or buffing wheels. A six axis robot is particularly well-suited for this purpose since it can be programmed to move from a staging area where a worker loads the object of manufacture onto the sixth axis mounting surface of the robot. Thereafter, the robot moves the object of manufacturer away from the staging area to a work area where buffing and polishing are performed.
While such six axis robots have provided a vast improvement over manual polishing and/or buffing, there is still room for improvement in the art. For example, conventional buffing and polishing robots are limited to manipulation of one object of manufacture at a time. This limits production capacity.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide an automated mechanism for simultaneously processing a plurality of objects of manufacture.
The above and other objects are provided by a multi-spindle end effector for a six axis robot. The multi-spindle end effector includes a plate housing having at least a pair of spaced-apart spindles mounted thereon. A servo-motor drivingly engages the spindles. A gear box steps down the RPMs of the motor to the desired RPM of the object to be rotated. A timing belt, which may be continuous, interlinks the first and second spindles so that the rotation of first spindle matches the rotation of the second spindle. An idler pulley may be employed to properly tension the belt.